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<blockquote data-quote="S'mon" data-source="post: 3453673" data-attributes="member: 463">From another thread:I think there's a fine art to getting players to create setting elements and have it work right.&nbsp; Eg, if you have a min-max powergamer player, don't let him create and stat out the NPCs of the nation his PC rules!&nbsp; I made that mistake.&nbsp;&nbsp; It was particularly bad because his PC was patron deity of the nation, and the player got the idea that it was a &quot;Player Character Nation&quot;, with every element of the country an extension of his own will.&nbsp; It ended up being not much fun to GM.&nbsp; If I had let him create the backgrounds &amp; personalities of some NPCs while I did all the stats, I think it could have worked great.&nbsp; I did that with another PC, an exiled prince, for his background area and it really brought the setting to life when he returned to claim the crown.Likewise, if you have a player with a degree in anthropology, be careful about letting her detail the cultures of the game world - you may get something that's rich, detailed, historically accurate and unplayable for the kind of game you want to run.&nbsp; One player of mine has a thing for historically accurate Sumero-Assyro-Babylonian naming conventions, leading to NPCs with names that are unprounceable by me, the GM.I generally find that creating NPCs with player input is great, as long as it's a back-and-forth process - eg player comes up with initial concept for a cohort, GM fleshes out the character and introduces them into the game, they are played by the GM, but then once their character is established, GM alllows the player to play them where appropriate.&nbsp; I've found that &quot;OK, it's your cohort, you create them and play them&quot; works very badly for typical min-max players; you always get a cardboard-cutout voiceless Cleric whose sole purpose in life is to keep the PC safe and sound, and who at least doubles that player's power in-game, overshadowing the other players.Thoughts?&nbsp; What kind of thing has worked well for you as GMs, allowing or encouraging players to create setting elements?&nbsp; And what hasn't worked so well?Edit: Not thinking so much about cases where the PC actually creates a setting element in character, like the Cleric who builds a temple or the Rogue who buys and refurbishes a tavern/inn, but things created by the player that may only have a tangential relation to the PC.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="S'mon, post: 3453673, member: 463"] From another thread: I think there's a fine art to getting players to create setting elements and have it work right. Eg, if you have a min-max powergamer player, don't let him create and stat out the NPCs of the nation his PC rules! I made that mistake. It was particularly bad because his PC was patron deity of the nation, and the player got the idea that it was a "Player Character Nation", with every element of the country an extension of his own will. It ended up being not much fun to GM. If I had let him create the backgrounds & personalities of some NPCs while I did all the stats, I think it could have worked great. I did that with another PC, an exiled prince, for his background area and it really brought the setting to life when he returned to claim the crown. Likewise, if you have a player with a degree in anthropology, be careful about letting her detail the cultures of the game world - you may get something that's rich, detailed, historically accurate and unplayable for the kind of game you want to run. One player of mine has a thing for historically accurate Sumero-Assyro-Babylonian naming conventions, leading to NPCs with names that are unprounceable by me, the GM. I generally find that creating NPCs with player input is great, as long as it's a back-and-forth process - eg player comes up with initial concept for a cohort, GM fleshes out the character and introduces them into the game, they are played by the GM, but then once their character is established, GM alllows the player to play them where appropriate. I've found that "OK, it's your cohort, you create them and play them" works very badly for typical min-max players; you always get a cardboard-cutout voiceless Cleric whose sole purpose in life is to keep the PC safe and sound, and who at least doubles that player's power in-game, overshadowing the other players. Thoughts? What kind of thing has worked well for you as GMs, allowing or encouraging players to create setting elements? And what hasn't worked so well? Edit: Not thinking so much about cases where the PC actually creates a setting element in character, like the Cleric who builds a temple or the Rogue who buys and refurbishes a tavern/inn, but things created by the player that may only have a tangential relation to the PC. [/QUOTE]

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